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Tag: misogyny

The pendulum swings and as far as sex segregation and marginalizing women, it seems Israel is at the very end of the swing: Surely it cannot get worse than forcing women to sit at the back of the bus or requesting women dress modestly when visiting a doctor. And so the silent majority is silent no more, protesting extremists pushing the country away from its founding principles. I am very hopeful we will soon experience again a sane and equal normalcy.

Having said that, I take issue with all the brouhaha about the exclusion of women from advertisements: leading Israeli companies have come under scrutiny (1, 2, 3) for print ads that did not include women in them. Essentially, these people are demanding that women will be returned to advertisements – and I think that’s laughable:
Until the day comes when ad agencies are no longer havens for misogynistic men, portraying women in their stereotypical positions as secretaries and housewives – or seductresses; Until the day comes when women in TV ads will try to persuade us to switch banks or buy car insurance, and not just as gratuitous eye candy to hold the product up against their naked, heaving bodies: Until the day comes when women are shown as equal to men – until that bright day arrives, getting rid of images of women in advertising might just be a breath of fresh air; An extreme measure to combat an unbearable situation that have been going on for far too long. To quote the fictional Admiral Percy Fitzwallace: “[We’ve] got some real honest-to-god battles to fight. [We] don’t have time for the cosmetic ones.”

To prove my point, here is an assortment of newspaper ads published this week:

I am having a philosophical discussion with a friend about what is and what isn’t worth writing about. Although I publish a comprehensive article now and then, I do not find it necessary to express my opinion every time and on every issue. I contend that in this day and age, pointing to things is service in itself – especially nowadays when things move so fast, and you need them to accumulate and percolate before you can be articulate.

I just watched this new video by Israeli singer Lior Narkis and all I can do is point to it and say: Hey people, watch this! You don’t need to know Hebrew or even like this kind of music in order to fathom the ideas expressed in it. As far as I know this is not a spoof, but the official video for Narkis’ song Metuka (sweetie). If every scale needs to be calibrated, I assume this is an unintentional calibration of the misogyny scale (Damnit, I let my initial reaction slip…)
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WszpZTLspo